Madrilenian Cocido

[ Jan.2018 ] On the last day of our stay in Madrid in Spain, we had to meet a person and went to the arranged place.

The area was lovely with stylish small retailers and cafes.

After the meeting, this person told us the way back to the centre and we started walking accordingly and found that this was the same area we had our lunch on the first day.

I think it will be enjoyable walking in Madrid knowing which area has what kind of character.

For example, the night before, we went to a very posh restaurant after being invited by people living in the city and that area is apparently famous for the many intellectuals and artists living there.

They are the people who enjoyed the new freedoms after the death of Franco, the dictator.

And in fact in that restaurant, we saw Pedro Almodovar, the famous Spanish film director.

The area we walked on the last day was stylish, too but not too posh and I felt like looking at every shop there.

It was nearly the lunch time and suddenly we remembered the restaurant which was fully booked on the first day, so we decided to try there.

The name is Restaurante Nuevo Horno de Santa Teresa.

It was still too early for the local people’s lunch, but the restaurant was open, so we entered.

Again, they said “Have you booked? We are fully booked”.

I was giving up, but my husband insisted saying “Because you said the same last time, we came early all the way”, then they said “We can give you a table until 2:45 pm”.

This restaurant seemed so popular.

The next to our table, there was a couple of Chinese tourists.

Only tourists eat lunch so early.

And we learned after sitting at the table that this is the Cocido specialised restaurant and they serve only Cocido.

It seems very famous for that.

So what is Cocido?

First they served a bowl of soup with short noodles, then a lot of chickpeas and vegetables and at the end, boiled meat.

On the vegetable plate, there were carrots, potatoes and cabbage and on top of that there was something called ‘bola’ which is a kind of bread soaked in milk, egg, garlic and parsley.

When they served meat, there were many kinds including sausages and bone marrow.

We sometimes eat boiled meat in Italy, too, but the speciality of Cocido was this soup with a strong flavour as well as chickpeas.

The taste was nice but the quantity was very big.

It was no way for us to eat all.

We should have skipped two meals to be very hungry to come here.

The staff here were all friendly middle aged women and the atmosphere of the restaurant was simple, not like the newly decorated stylish ones around this area.

We had to leave quite a lot of foods in the end, but they did not seem to mind at all and kept their friendliness.

I liked this restaurant, so next time when I come back, I will be starving and try to eat all.